Come to Me...

I heard a pastor give his testimony on Good Friday and it is the kind of testimony I believe the world needs to hear more often.

The pastor told how he came to Christ, not as a result of an addiction or other dramatic event in his life, but as a normal, ordinary man. He had a job, a good income, a family and a solid marriage. He made the point that, in cases like his, coming to faith must bust through an immense self-sufficiency and independence. In his mind, he was quite able to take care of himself. His need for God was not readily apparent. But the day finally came when he did accept Christ, acknowledging that he, like all of us, are broken and in need of a Savior.

I love this testimony because, quite frankly, I don't hear it very much. How common, I wonder, is it to come to Christ this way? I also love it for the power of redemption it speaks to those who think they've got life and the future all squared away and nailed down. I've often thought that it is easier to carry the Gospel over miles of ocean and through corrupt governments and have people accept it than it is to break through the comfort of a 3,000 square foot house, dual five-figure incomes and German engineering parked in the heated garage. We all are broken and in need of a Savior. For some, it just appears to be more obvious than for others. But the need, on all fronts, is equal. This became patently clear to me as I recently walked through the Titanic exhibit: monetarily rich and poor alike; those in first class and in steerage, died together. Death shows no partiality.

And neither does Jesus. He will break through addictions. He will break through criminality. He will break through promiscuity. He will break through infirmity--all things through which people tend to more readily see their brokenness and need for Jesus. But Jesus will even break through the stronghold of self-pride that says, "My life is good. I don't have any need of a Savior." Jesus, as this pastor testified, can break through even that.

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24